The Meadow (plus extra stories)
by DracoJane
Summary: "Inuyasha bent down and grabbed his children with a playful roar; he clasped them close to him in an embrace. The children giggled with joy and admitted defeat, accept the daughter who eagerly wriggled out of his arms, she chuckled as she stumbled away." Kagome X Inuyasha
1. The Meadow

Cries of laughter filled the meadow as the infant thumped its little chubby limbs across the grass. He stopped for a moment and sat on his backside as he watched a beautiful blue butterfly flutter in front of him, his soft green eyes reflecting the lush grass surrounding him. The butterfly landed innocently on his nose, its curiosity knew no fear, as it sat still there, its wings slowly parting and closing as it examined the strange creature beneath it.

The child screeched a giggle of joy, and waved its arms vertically thumping the ground with excitement. This sudden action startled the butterfly and it fluttered away, the infant stared at it as it went further from his reach, his beautiful light green eyes grew sad and began to tear. His large chibi like dog ears sank in sorrow. His cries were then heard echoing through the meadow.

Another child came to his aid; she was his twin sister, though her eyes were magenta pink. They both possessed the same long silky silver hair like their father. She crawled over him, her chest arching over his head while her face, met his up-side-down. The look of concern in her eyes conveyed a silent question which he understood quite well though his only reply was a grumpy glare for the way in which she was crushing his head and henceforth his body collapsed to the ground. The girl giggled as she rolled off her twin brother who was now face down into the dirt. His head slowly lifted from the ground and glared her way, his expression showed how unimpressed he was but soon it could not be taken seriously when his mouth trembled as he tried to force away the smile that was eager to show. The twins burst into laughter together and rolled in the grass thumping the ground with frantic limbs.

"Ok you two." A voice addressed them from above, a shadow fell over them as they looked up to their mother, Kagome. "It's time for you to have a nap."

The siblings frowned at their mother and both gave her a stern twisted look followed by their tongues sticking out in protest.

The laughter from a husky voice came from behind her, "They just don't want to behave do they?" The voice laughed. It was their father Inuyasha.

"Humph!" She huffed, "They're just like you!"

Inuyasha bent down and grabbed his children with a playful roar; he clasped them close to him in an embrace. The children giggled with joy and admitted defeat, accept the daughter who eagerly wriggled out of his arms, she chuckled as she stumbled away.

"Oh no you don't!" Inuyasha gave their son to Kagome and went after his daughter. She shrieked and laughed as she ran as fast as her stubby little legs would allow. When Inuyasha caught her he laughed and said, "Now as punishment, I will tickle you!" She rolled around frantically in the grass, her arms and legs desperately trying to push her father away as he tickled her. She cackled and snorted before she "escaped" as Inuyasha let her go.

She stumbled to the ground, a tear resting at the corner of her left eye from all the laughter. The little girl was on her guard now, watching her father without a blink, until her tiny mouth stretched uttering a large sleepy yawn. She felt her father's large hands slid under her arms and lift her up.

"It's time for you to go to bed." He said, gently patting her back. She finally gave in and rested her sleepy head on his shoulder; she could see her mother walking away from the meadow, her brother resting over her shoulder asleep. She watched as they parted from the green meadow, its soft grass dancing gently in the breeze, small droplets of water resting on the grass.

Inuyasha put his daughter down next to her twin brother in the hut. Their beds were soft as silk, with white sheets and pillows, a teddy in each of them.

"They had an eventful day today." Kagome whispered to Inuyasha. "With the demons earlier in the village, I wasn't sure if we should have let them in the meadow at all."

"Well they are safe now." Inuyasha turned to Kagome, he pulled her in his arms, and she felt so safe in his embrace like nothing could hurt her. She looked up at him and he gently kissed her lips.

They heard the children stir in their sleep. "Maybe it's best that we go now." Inuyasha stared tenderly into Kagomes eyes as he gently brushed her right cheek.  
"Yes, let's go." She whispered, smiling sweetly at him before leaving.  
Before walking out the door Kagome turned back to look at her children, "Good night Amaya, good night Kazuki.


	2. Jealousy

Okayy here we are, this is another story by me with the same twins. It is set later on when they are about five years old. I am not so sure how well I did in this story but please let me know with a review if I did well, or if I did poorly please tell me how I can improve :) Please

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**Jealousy**

Kazuki stood behind a tall old tree. The leaves shadows dancing gently across his face and on the soft grass beneath his feet. He glared, his eyes narrowed, they were now a soft golden green, more like his fathers.

In the meadow he was watching two children dancing, one had beautiful silver hair like his own and bright pink eyes, the other had hair of medium length which was a copper-brown colour, his eyes hazel and bright, they were looking tenderly at Kazuki's twin sister.

The two laughed and played as Kazuki watched from behind the tree. Amaya was so occupied with her new friend that she barely noticed her twin brother anymore. This made him very upset until it escalated into anger and then into something else he had never felt before, jealousy.

His soft tender hand clasped the bark of the dark tree tightly in anger. The bark prickled his hand and gave him splinters and he yelped.

The two children turned to see where the sound was coming from, their innocent gazes searched towards the trees where Kazuki was standing, but he had already sat down behind the tree out of sight. He clasped his sore hand, tears of pain in the corners of his eyes. Kazuki started picking out most of the splinters, his hand was now red and sore and so was his heart. The jealousy was eating him alive. He turned to look around the tree to glance back at the meadow. A shadow lurked over him its resemblance made him realise it was no tree, Kazuki looked up to see his sisters new childhood friend, Hotaka.

"What do you want?" He snapped angrily.

The copper-brown haired boy wearily stepped away; the look of concern on his face was genuine.

"Kazuki! Kasuki!" The sweet voice of his sister called as she playfully ran up to them smiling joyously, she then clasped Hotakas arm with two of hers.

"What are you doing that for?" Kazuki cried, "You used to always play with ME, and only ME, and now you have no time for ME anymore, it's all about HIM!" He ran away crying, his heart had truly been broken. Had his only sister replaced him?

"Kazuki wait!" His sister cried out to him and ran after her brother.

Hotaka stayed where he was, silent, his eyes soft and sorrowful as he watched Kazuki run away crying.

Amaya couldn't catch up to her brother, she wept as she tried her hardest to stop him from running away from her.

"Kazuki!" She yelled, her voice horse and husky from all the tears. "WAIT!"

He cried louder, his weeping could be heard from the residents of a small hut in the forest.

"Mumma!"

The door swung open and out came Kagome, a shocked look on her face, she ran to her son and kneeled down as he pummelled into her.

"What's wrong Kazuki? What's wrong?" She hastily checked his face, hair and hands. "Where were you hurt?"

"Mummy!" Kazuki sobbed. "A-a-amaya i-is r-replacing m-me." He cried.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kagome looked into the face of her crying child, she was worried.

Amaya ran towards them, streams of tears falling down her cheeks.

"Mumma!" She sobbed. "Mumma... M-Kazuki." She squealed her brother's name before bursting into tears.

"Hang on a second, don't cry!" Kagome reached out for her daughter and gently pulled her closer. "What's wrong?"

"Ka-kasuki keeps running away from me!" Amaya squeaked. "Kazuki!" She approached her brother but he ran away from them yelling at them to leave him alone.

"Got-ya." A voice was heard from the bushes when Inuyasha walked out, Kazuki's left leg in his grasp. The boy was struggling and shifting in Inuyashas grip as he tried to wriggle his foot out of his father's fist. "Let me go! Let me GO!" He yelled.

"Ah, pipe down!" His father replied, casually and unamused.

"Kazuki!" Amaya walked over to her brother, he was now dangling up-side down by his left foot. There was no place to run now. He just stayed there still, his face watery from all the tears that were still streaming down his face.

"Why don't you love me anymore?" He screeched his arms and free leg thrusting out everywhere dramatically.

Kazuki found himself slamming onto the ground when Inuyasha released his foot. Inuyasha huffed.

"You two sort it out, I'm gonna take a nap."

Kagome was still kneeling on the ground, her hands pressed gently to her mouth and when she saw Inuyasha drop their son she chased after him and started yelling at him.

Amaya walked over to her brother, he had his back to her, refusing to look into her eyes because he knew he would burst into tears again. Kazuki was becoming as stubborn as his father.

There were no words to say what needed to be said, or at least none that could come from five-year-old children. All that was needed to be said was understood when he found his sister hugging him while she whimpered into his chest.

No words needed to be said, not between siblings, and especially not between twins.

Without a single word Kazuki understood, she didn't mean it, and by the next day Kasuki had made his first childhood best friend, Hotaka, who was the son of Koga.


	3. A New Adventure

**Here is another Kazuki and Amaya story :3 I hope you like !**

**Just a warning, in this story there is rude humour implied so might not be so good for younger people.**

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A New Adventure

Amaya had been feeling odd lately, she didn't know why. It often happened when she was near Hotaka and Kazuki. She would feel all bubbly inside, tingles trembled across her fingers and an unusual longing to be near them always lingered.

She hummed a bubbly tune as she sat on the log just on the borderline of the Meadow. Amaya peered into the sky through the leaves that were twinkling as the light softly seeped through them.

"AMAYA!" She jumped, Hotaka was in front of her his arms on either side of her, and he was peering intensely into her face. "We have to go!" He continued "We have been calling you for fifty minutes!"

Of course it hadn't actually been that long; Hotaka just had a habit of over exaggerating everything.

"Yeah, hurry up Amaya!" Kazuki called from the other side of the Meadow "Mumma wants to tell us something!"

Kazuki, as he got older, was growing more and more like his father. Very rash and arrogant, but he always had a soft spot for his dear twin sister.

"Oh!" Amaya said startled, "Ok I'm coming!" Hotaka jumped aside as Amaya went to shove him but just missed, she ran away towards her brother. She only turned to stick her longue out at Hotaka and pull her left eye lid down to provoke him and then turned again to bolt towards her brother and disappeared into the trees, Hotaka hot on her trail yelling insults about "being rude."

Kazuki slowed down to meet pace beside his sister, "Do you wanna race?" He said, smiling at her devilishly.

"Ok, sure." She nodded and smiled, Amaya then turned to look behind her while Kazuki got into racing position. She quickly copied him, "We better be quick before Hotaka catches up with us!" She warned, "His still mad at me." Amaya giggled.

Kazuki only nodded, "One, Two, Three, GO" He yelled and they were both sprinting for the cottage. Autumn leaves that were beneath their feet were now flying into the air behind them and being carried away by the wind. They panted hoarsely as they struggled to keep going. "HEY WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?!" yelled Hotaka from behind them, he was running like a maniac and was already catching up with them, the twins looked back at him, gobsmacked expressions on their faces, their eyes popping out of their sockets.

They took one look at each other and knew they had the same idea. Amaya and Hotaka used every ounce of the strength they had left and shot forward even faster than before, leaving nothing but dust in Hotakas face.

His jaw dropped and he slowly came to a stop, his arms dangling down to the ground, back arched, and a gaping look on his face. "WAIT HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" He suddenly piped up and had his fists in the air and then continued to pursue them, running like a mad man.

The twins were now seven years old, they had been friends with Hotaka for two years now. During these two years Hotaka had really come out of his shell, he was quiet and unsure of himself when they all first met, and frankly he was more innocent as a six-year-old, but now as an eight-year-old he was very outspoken and sometimes mean like his father Koga though he still had his sensitive side.

"I'll beat you!" Amaya panted.

"Nah ah! I'll beat you! I'm gonna win!" Kazuki huffed, he was almost out of breath.  
They turned a corner and both yelled "Mamma, Mamma!" In unison when they saw the cottage.

With the last bit of energy she had left Amaya forced it all into her little legs and only just reached the cottage before Kazuki.  
"I win I win!" She cheered tiredly.

"Nahhhh..." Kazuki stopped to wheeze in a couple of breaths. "Rematch, REMATCH!"

"Nah ah!" Amaya spat her tongue out at him.

"Calm down now." Kagome said softly. "We have something to tell you."

Inuyasha came up behind her and rested his hand gently on her right shoulder.

"Ha HA! I caught up with you!" Hotaka called, he was not panting at all, meaning that he had given up on catching them before they reached the cottage. "Who won?" He smirked smugly at Amaya expecting the answer to be Kazuki.

"I did." Amaya crossed her arms and looked at him angrily.

He gawked, "No...way..."

She nodded swiftly and turned away from him.

"Ok kids, let's go inside." And the family proceeded towards the cottage when Kagome turned back "You can come in too if you want Hotaka." She noticed Hotaka standing there looking sad and excluded, and when she extended the invitation it was accepted instantly.

Everyone sat in the living room in front of the fire, it was getting cold outside and Kagome told Hotaka that he could stay the night if it was ok with his parents.

"Amaya, Kazuki" Kagome looked up at Inuyasha lovingly, "you are going to have another brother or sister."

The children did not know what to say. Millions of questions were going through their minds like "how did this happen," "which is it, a boy or a girl?" and the most famous "Where do babies come from?"

Amaya was the first to ask that question.

Inuyasha spat out the hot chocolate he was drinking and started chocking, he was rashly hitting his chest.

Kagome was surprised to hear that question but remained a lot more refined than Inuyasha.

She smirked awkwardly and replied "That will be for another day."

Amaya glared at her mother and flicked back one of her ribbon-like curly locks, "Why can't you tell us now?"

Kagome's look just became more and more awkward as the time passed.

She only said "You're too young" as she patted Amayas head and walked out the living room.

Amaya then turned to her father who was sweating and looked as though he just came out of the river; he was shaking his head as well.

"Daddyyyyyyyy!" Amaya whined.

"No please don't please don't please don't." Were the words echoing in Inuyashas mind.

"Where do babies come from?"

Inuyasha shrieked and threw his hands in the air and grabbed the hair on his head.

"DON'T YOU EVER LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR MOTHER TELLS YOU? NO MEANS NO!"

"Yeahhh but Daddyyyy, you always ask again when Mummy says no remember?"

His eyes twitched.

"Remember Daddyyyyyy? The other day you were asking Mumma for some honey and she kept saying no, but YOUUUU" She pointed a little chibi finger at him. "Kept asking her again and again, and then she said 'Fine I will give you some honey but later when the kids are asleep.'"

Inuyasha shrieked again and looked like he was going to be sick.

"WHERE DO YOU KIDS GET OFF EAVESDROPPING LIKE THAT!?"

"But-but Daddyyyyy are you going to tell us where babies come frommm? Daddyyyy?"

"NO!" He looked furious now, flames flickering around his figure.

Amaya started using the puppy dog eyes; Kazuki observed his sister and then decided to do the same. Hotaka was just staring at them for a moment, and when Inuyasha wasn't giving in he joined the twins.

Inuyasha glared at him, "What makes you think that if my own kids can't break me... that.. you ... can?" He was now nose to nose with Hotaka glaring at him furiously.

Hotaka was freaking out.

Koga was at the front door staring at Inuyasha. "And what do you think you are doing to my son?" He growled.  
"Daddy!" Hotaka cheered and rushed over to Koga and hugged his leg. Koga rested his right hand on his sons head and rustled his hair.

"Don't EVER do that to MY son AGAIN MUTT!"

"OH YEAH MANGY WOLF! COME HERE AND SAY THAT!"

The two of them growled at each other from across the room.

"That's enough boys!" Kagome fumed, it was rare that the children saw her get angry, especially lately.

"I am having a baby, and I need NO STRESS, GOT IT!"

They both froze like men in a winter storm, "Yes Ma'am!" They said in unison.

After Koga and Kagome had a quick chat Koga turned to Hotaka and told him to say goodbye to his friends. He then shot a brief glare at Inuyasha.

"Bye Kazuki, Bye Amaya!"

"Bye" They both said waving.

But Hotaka stopped at the door, "What's wrong son?" Koga asked.

Hotaka walked back into the lounge room towards his friends and leaned in to gently kiss Amaya on the cheek.

"Bye!" He quickly ran out the door and slammed it behind him.

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**I hope you guys liked it ^_^ If you want to see a picture I drew of Kazuki and Amaya all grown up then visit my Deviant art account (DracoJane7) I posted a link here last time but it won't work :| So yeah... **

Please review on this short story! ^_^


	4. Growing affections

**Growing Affections**

It had been a few days since Hotaka had kissed Amaya. She was very shy and timid about it, and she didn't know what to do. Amaya had been kissed many times before on the cheek by her parents and sometimes by her brother, but this was very different and Amaya couldn't understand why.

She heard a knock at the front door and went to investigate, when she opened it, yet again, like every day since the kiss, she found something waiting for her at her door step. The first day it had been a spinning top, the second a bow, today there were flowers waiting for her from the meadow.

Amaya had not seen Hotaka since that day, it had been three days now, and when she and Kazuki went to the meadow to play he was not there waiting for them.

She wondered if she did anything wrong? Did she upset him? Or hurt his feelings? Amaya just couldn't grasp what was going on between them.

Walking into the lounge room towards the fire she gazed at the flowers in her arms, a sad look on her face. They were beautiful, but she would much rather be with the one who gave them to her.

"Mumma." She called softly to Kagome. "Why is Hotaka doing these things?" She raised the flowers up so Kagome could see them better. Kagome stopped knitting the jumper she was working on and looked at her daughter. She smiled and replied "He likes you."

"But... Mummyyyy I know he likes me." She whined. "That's why we are friends."

"Amaya my sweet." She softly patted her daughters head. "This is a different kind of like."

Amaya frowned at her Mother feeling confused, and frustrated. "But, mumma... I don't understand."

Kagome's hand slid gently to Amayas right cheek, "You will someday." She smiled gently and reassuringly.

"And why isn't he talking to me?" Her eyes started to water. "If he 'likes' me then why won't he talk to me?"

"Why don't you go and ask him yourself." Kagome replied softly, "He is just outside the window over there." Amaya went to look but Kagome gently pulled her daughters face back to look at her. "He has been watching us this whole time, when you go out there, make sure to be quite or he will run away." She winked.

Amayas eyes lit up. This would be the first time she'd get to see him in three days. She was truly excited.

Kagome directed Amaya towards the kitchen to make it look like she was not going outside, but sneakily Amaya walked quietly out the back door and tiptoed around to the front where Hotaka was peeping through the window.

She hesitated for a moment, looking around the corner of the house, she was watching Hotaka pushing himself up with his feet to meet the window. He was too short to stand there at full height and see through the window. Amaya blushed, why was she feeling this way towards Hotaka? It was so unnatural yet natural at the same time. She couldn't get herself to walk around the corner; she feared that he would see her. Amayas heart was going to explode, but she had to do this, or she might not see him again!

Amaya took a deep, quiet breath, and walked around the corner. She decided that if she didn't capture him now, that he would just run off. So instead of just nudging him, with full force she pounced on him and held him to the ground. Dirt shot up everywhere as he face planted into the bushes.

"ARHHH WHA-T –T-T-T-T-HE H-H-ELL?" He shrieked.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Amaya barked at him angrily.

Hotaka's whole body froze when he recognised her voice, and Amaya felt it.

She asked again, "Why have you been AVOIDING ME?" Hotaka slowly turned his head to look at her sideways while still pressed to the ground. Amaya was now starting to sob.

Hotaka's eyes widened and he began to shriek "GET OFF ME WOMAN!"

Amaya released his head while now occupying her hands with wiping away her tears, but she wouldn't get off of him. "GET OFF ME!" He yelled again. Amaya only cried louder.

Hotaka began to frown, he didn't want to be near her for some reason, and he didn't understand why. He felt like he wanted to be near her always, but at the same time he couldn't stand to be near her, and now, watching her cry, he felt like hot irons were burning his chest. He just wanted to get away. He began to sob. "Get AWAY from me." He cried. Hotaka began to give up on squirming out from under her. She had him stuck face down and he just couldn't do anything about it. Hotaka let his face fall straight into the dirt, his arms falling above him, and continued to sob.

He wanted so desperately to get away from her, but at the same time he just wanted her close to him. Hotaka couldn't understand it at all.

"Wh-h-y?" Amaya sobbed, her tears were now clearing up a bit, but Hotaka gave no answer. All Amaya could feel was his body twitching with every sob he gave out.

She stood up and ran away crying. Amaya honestly believed that Hotaka didn't want to see her again. Hotaka suddenly shot up from the ground, but instead of running where he had planned, he sped towards the meadow where he knew Amaya would go. Amaya had a secret path of her own that she sometimes took to the meadow. She often used this path to trick Kazuki and Hotaka, and to beat them to the meadow. This time she was using it as an escape route. She didn't want Hotaka following her, and she didn't want Kazuki to find her for Hotaka. Amaya just wanted to sob alone.

She stopped at a special part of the path, a tiny clearing that was near a creek. Amaya sat down on the dry dirt, raised her legs to her chest and held them tightly while her head rested against them. Amaya felt so hurt, her heart felt like it had been stretched and torn slightly. Over the wind she suddenly heard something. It was a voice calling from the meadow. She peered through the trees and in the distance she could see a tiny figure running around in the clearing.

"AMAYA!" The voice on the wind called again. It was Hotaka. "AMAYA!" Every time the voice was heard it sounded more desperate and miserable. She then saw another figure move into the meadow; silver hair flickered in the hoarse wind. "What did you do IDIOT!" It barked. The voice belonged to her brother Kazuki. "Where have you been?" Kazuki scolded.

The first tiny figure in the distance collapsed to the ground, not because he was attacked, but because he was in pain. Amaya could see that Hotakas head was in his hands. Kazuki stood there, looking down at Hotaka, his arms on his hips, but he wasn't yelling at Hotaka anymore. The rest of the conversation was too quiet for Amaya to hear. All she could hear were the occasional wheezing gasps of Hotaka.

Amaya felt terrible, she had a feeling that her running away was the cause of Hotakas pain. She stood up and walked along the path, always keeping her eyes on the two figures in the meadow. Amaya wanted to be close enough to hear what they were saying. A snapping sound echoed, it was a stick that Amaya had stood on. Both of the boys gazes snapped towards where the sound had come from. She gasped and then she saw Kazuki walking towards her, a curious frown on his brow.

Amaya ran for it, her legs were tripping slightly on the path as she avoided every rock and stick in front of her. Any ordinary human wouldn't have heard her, but her brother, like herself, had superior hearing and he knew it was her. Kazuki shot through the trees and was hot on her trail. Amaya was scared; she wouldn't know what to do if she should have to face Hotaka again.

Hotaka was still on his knees in the meadow, his own senses were better than that of the twins due to him being a full blooded demon, while the twins were only one fourth. Hotaka ran for the path to join Kazuki in pursuing Amaya. "AMAYA" He cried. Before he could reach the path he paused when he noticed Amaya running out of the forest. She was looking behind her at Kazuki, she feared that he would catch her so much so that she didn't realise that she was heading straight for Hotaka until she smashed right into him.

Hotaka held his ground, only just avoiding plummeting into the ground. Amaya froze, her eyes widened, she could smell his scent and then tried to get away. It was too painful to be near him after she felt rejected by him earlier that day, but she couldn't budge. He was too strong for her. She shoved at his chest trying to break free, and when she couldn't, she did what she feared most. Amaya hesitantly looked up into his light hazel eyes, and he was sobbing. She wanted to get away, but when she met his gaze she froze at once and couldn't look away no matter how hard she tried.

Hotaka held her to him with his left arm, while using his right to wipe away his tears. There was no need to hold her though, even if Amaya wanted to get away, she couldn't budge. He went to use his left hand as well, because he couldn't contain the water flowing from his eyes. Without Hotakas arm for support Amaya fell to the ground and onto her backside. "Ouch!" She whined, rubbing her bottom.

Hotaka fell down to his knees to meet her gaze, but she turned away from him. Kazuki walked up behind her and frowned at Hotaka. He then crossed his arms, "So what you gonna do now?... Stupid idiot!" Kazuki stared at Hotaka who looked up at him, his eyes glassy from the tears. "I'll go then." Kazuki walked away, "you better make it up to my sister," He punched his fist into the palm of his other hand, "or else!"

They sat there in silence for about ten minutes, Hotaka turned away from Amaya, with only occasional glances at her to see if she was looking at him, but she was always turned away.

Those ten minutes of silence were the most agonising ten minutes of Hotakas life. Amaya started to occupy herself with making a daisy chain, while occasionally glancing at Hotaka without him noticing.

"Ouch!" Amaya yelped, she had cut herself with one of her claws. Kagome warned her the other day that this would happen if she didn't let her trim them, but Amaya didn't listen. She went to put her finger in her mouth, but found her hand clasped in two of Hotakas. She met gaze with him for only two seconds and then blushed and looked away.

Hotaka wiped away the blood and then pulled out a bandaid from one of his pockets. He then pulled out a file –that he normally used to sharpen his claws for battles with Kazuki that are quite forbidden by both their parents because of damages involved – he used the file to make her claws blunt so she couldn't cut herself again.

"T-thanks." Amaya muttered embarrassed.

Hotaka didn't say anything, he just stayed silent. Amaya turned to him and noticed him staring right at her. She suddenly felt the urge to feel that kiss on her cheek again, but instead Hotaka went straight for her lips. It was a sweet blissful kiss that lasted only a few seconds before Hotaka blushed and turned away to hide the shy grin on his face.

Amaya blushed and giggled, Hotaka peered at her from the corner of his eye, his face beetroot red.

She turned to him and giggled, "Do it again!" Hotaka felt startled and flinched from surprise, but he was happy to hear that. At least she wasn't mad at him anymore. He went in slowly for the second kiss; Amaya's face was now blushing a rose pink. Something hit Hotakas head before he could accomplish a second kiss.

"NO YOU DON'T YOU LITTLE MUT!" They turned and see Inuyasha yelling from the bushes. "IF A FILTHY MUT LIKE YOU LAYS ANOTHER HAND ON MY LITTLE GIRL I W-" before he could finish his sentence, Hotaka kissed Amaya again cheekily and they both ran away together into Amayas secret path, Inuyasha trying to chase after them yelling insults at Hotaka.


	5. Complications

**Complications **

It had been a year since their kiss. Amaya and Kazuki were now eight years old, but Hotaka wasn't yet nine.

Amaya and Hotaka ran away from the Meadow, Inuyasha hot on their trail.

"Get back here you little mut!" He called after Hotaka. It had been a year, and still Inuyasha wasn't giving up on trying to stop Hotaka's relationship with Amaya.

It was not a relationship so to speak, it was more of an innocent romance between the two children. Hotaka would occasionally come up to Amaya when she was examining something in the meadow, or drawing a picture, he would peer over her shoulder to see what she was doing. They stayed closely together since the day of their first and second kiss, though Hotaka didn't smother her at all with kisses or affectionate things. He was still shy after all and only graced her with occasional gifts, extremely rare cuddles and once in a while – if Inuyasha wasn't looking – a kiss.

Finally Inuyasha decided to give up and headed back to the cottage when he had lost them in the forest. They were both very young and too quick for him. He grumbled angrily when he opened the door and walked in.

Kagome had no problems with them being innocently affectionate towards each other, but Inuyasha was cautious and annoyed with the idea.

"She is just a KID!" He would growl angrily.

"But she and Hotaka are only very innocent. It's not like these are their teen years." She gave Inuyasha a twisted expression.

"Y-y.." He slowly sat down, "I suppose you're... right... BUT I DON'T LIKE HIS MITTENS ALL OVER HER! 'INNOCENT' OR NOT!" He grumbled something Kagome couldn't hear and repeated it out loud when she enquired about what it was he said.

"I said she is STILL MY little GIRL!" He muttered something again while being turned away from Kagome.

She sighed angrily, "WHAT was that Inuyasha?"

"Oh, nothing..." His frown never left his brow.

"SAY it AGAIN!" Kagome demanded.

"FINE. All I said was... his the son of that mangy wolf... Darn it to heck WHY the son of that MANGY WOLF?!"

"Oh, do you have a problem with me?" Koga was at the door, a smug grin on his face. He was enjoying Inuyashas discomfort about his 'precious princess' going out with Kogas 'mangy wolf' son.

"CRAM IT YOU!" Inuyasha yelled.

Ayame came out from behind Koga. "What's wrong with our son?" She scoffed.

"NOTHING!" Inuyasha replied, and relaxed himself, lowering his head and turning away "His just the son of KOgA!" He said Kogas name with childish resentment.

"Well he is MY son too!" She said, glaring at him.  
Ayame suddenly flinched when she felt something heavy on her foot; it was a small boy crawling across towards his parents.

"WHERE DID YOU GET OFF TO?" Inuyasha said angrily, a shocked expression on his face.

"You had me WORRIED sick!" He continued.

"You were more worried about your daughter actually." Ayame sneered.

"Shut... up." He growled through his teeth.

The child was Amaya and Kazuki's little brother; he had dark brown hair and resembled his mother Kagome. He was now six months old.

Kagome picked up the child and he squealed happily, raising his arms up, black dog ears sticking out; a small, wide open grin on his face.

Ayame smiled, "He is very cute, isn't he?"

Koga grunted as some sort of agreement.

"Well anyway..." Koga began, "We are here to pick up our son, where is he?"

"I have no idea..." Inuyasha muttered whilst turned away from everyone. He was starting to get agitated again.

"I'm here dad!" Hotaka was right beside Koga.

"Oh there you are son! Let's go home then." Ayame rested her hand gently on his back when leading him out the door.

Amaya was standing beside the small pebbled path, looking very sad that Hotaka had to go. He smiled at her sweetly and said "See you later."

"Ok." She nodded.

Kazuki was just behind her, "Well, about time he left." He sounded angry, "You are starting to ignore me again! You guys always run off and do your own thing..." He turned away from her to hide the frustrated look on his face. "I hate it! It's just like back then when we were younger." He turned back to Amaya; the frown on his brow was very scary to her.

"I-I-I'm sorry." She had a nervous look on her face.

"Whatever..." He walked inside the house and closed the door without saying another word to her.

...

At dinner Amaya was playing with her food, she didn't have much of an appetite that night. She felt guilty for treating Kazuki the way she did. She felt as though she couldn't help it, which was worse. Amaya just wanted to spend as much one on one with Hotaka as possible. There were still times where all three of them played together but most of the time Hotaka and Amaya would go off and do their own thing.

She saw Kazuki playing with Jirou, their new brother.

It was good that Kazuki at least had someone to play with when Amaya was with Hotaka, but Kazuki still felt lonely without his sister from time to time. They were the same age and had a bond after all and it was hard to establish such a similar bond with a six month old baby. Kazuki also missed spending time with Hotaka, since most of the time he was with Amaya and not playing with Kazuki.

Inuyasha watched Amaya stare sadly at her brother. He had heard the conversation they had outside earlier that day. He had also noticed that Kazuki hadn't spent much time with his friend Hotaka.

"Tell you what?" He muffled through a pear he was eating. All three children looked up. "I'll take you and Hotaka hunting tomorrow, kay?" He looked at Kazuki, his little face was lit up.

...

The next day Inuyasha was with the two boys. Kazuki was overjoyed because he finally was spending some time with Hotaka.

Inuyasha looked away from the excited boys hopping from tree to tree behind him, a gentle frown creased above his eyes. Suddenly he stopped on one tree; he held his hands out to catch the two boys before they leaped to the next tree.

"Smell that?" He asked them.

Hotaka sniffed the air, "Yeah that's a ... funny smell..."

Kazuki only nodded in agreement, looking at his father innocently, still hanging from the scruff of his kimono in mid air.

Inuyasha only muttered one word.

"Demons."

...

To be continued in part 2


	6. Complications (p2)

**Hello everyone!  
Sorry it has taken me a while to update, I hope you enjoy the second part of this chapter ^_^ **

* * *

**Complications  
(Part 2) **

Inuyasha ran towards the scent, his nose and brow wrinkled expressing his fury. Why was there a demon out of all things here?

Inuyasha and Kagome had put their demon fighting days behind them ever since they destroyed the sacred jewel so no other evil demon could get a hold of it. That left demons no reason to attack them, yet why could he smell one now?

He hurried, leaping from tree to tree, the two boys nowhere to be seen.

Kazuki and Hotaka got a little too excited earlier at the mere mention of a demon and wanted to fight it. It was their dream to take on demons and villains together. Inuyasha had fought with them over it for at least ten minutes but when the boys wouldn't back down he tricked them into going back to the cottage by pretending that the scent lead there and then had Kagome lock them in.

"There's no way I would EVER let them fight a demon!" Inuyasha scoffed to himself.

He continued to follow the scent until he came to a small opening in the forest. Inuyasha began to notice that the scent was very different from any other he had smelled before; he could almost swear that there were three different demons in the area.

Walking along the trees quietly he examined his surroundings, looking for any possible hiding places that a demon could be.

THUD!

The silence was disturbed by a large crashing sound, the earth shook under Inuyashas feet. Grumbling noises of a tremendous monster filled the air.

He looked up to find a large shadow descending upon him, the sun behind the creature blinded Inuyasha so he couldn't see what the demon looked like. It hit him across the face and sent him flying into the trees and it cackled.

"You're no match for me... Inu...yasha.." His name was said with a growl.

He got up and yelled at the beast "Who are you and how do you know my name?"

The creature laughed again with a cackling rumble, "Everyone knows YOUR name Inu...yasha..."

"Well I DON'T KNOW YOURS! WHO ARE YOU!?" He extracted his claws. Inuyasha never had his tetsusaiga on him anymore, he never needed it, but now that he did Inuyasha regretted not having it on him at all times. 'Demons are back!' he growled in his mind.

"My name is Kyoufu Oni." He chuckled.

"Well, Kyoufu-Oni, it's time to say your prayers!"

"I don't think so." Kyoufu Oni said cheekily.

For the first time Inuyasha could see the demon as he jumped to lash out at it. The demon had four legs; his front right paw was waving slowly in mid air, the talons sharp and white, his body and main head were green. Inuyasha didn't notice it before but Kyoufu Oni had three heads, all of them with a different scent! The one that spoke was the green one in the middle, the one to the demons right was a maroon colour and the one on the left was black. Kyoufu Oni also had two small purple wings and a long slithering tail. All three heads had blazing red eyes. He looked very much like a hydra dragon.

"Careful." He said casually as his right paw finally stopped dead infront of him. Suddenly Inuyasha was paralysed. Frozen in mid air, he couldn't do a thing.

'Daddy! Daddy.' The echoes of a woman calling for her father danced across his mind. 'Daddy, Where are you?' The voice continued to call until Inuyasha saw something immerge from the bushes.

The woman was tall and petite, her hair hung low over her hips ending in ribbon curls, the woman's eyes were pink and anxious, and her ears kept twitching every time she looked in a new direction.

'DADDY!' She called out again, her eyes began to tear up.

Inuyasha couldn't breathe. He knew who it was the second he saw her.

"Amaya! Get out of here!"

'Daddy!' The voice was fading, becoming quieter. She turned to walk to her right, away from Inuyasha.

"Amaya!" He yelled again.

The woman screamed, three nasty demons came out from the forest and started attacking her. They were green beasts with horns.

Inuyasha yelled out to her time and again but she couldn't hear him. "Run Amaya, RUN!" He yelled, but the demons killed her.

"Why you! WHY DID YOU DO THAT! I WILL KILL YOU!" He tried to claw off one of the demons heads but found himself falling to the ground and landing in front of a mirror.

He stood up once more to fight the beast but couldn't help but stare into the mirror. Something was odd about his reflection. Inuyasha looked into the mirror and saw himself wearing a green kimono and his eyes were a light green as well. He sniffed the surface of the mirror and the reflection copied him. Inuyasha pulled back and was about to address Kyoufu Oni when his reflection started moving on its own. The figure started slashing at demons and bandits, yelling at them to get away. 'You take that one.' He ordered one of his companions who was tan skinned with short copper-brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Rodger that, Kazuki!" The man pounced onto the demon he was directed to.

Inuyasha fell to the ground, "No, no it can't be!" He leaped forward, his hands and claws sliding down the mirrors surface. "KAZUKI!" He called, a tear slid down the side of his right cheek. "NO KAZUKI! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!"

But no one in the mirror could hear him. Demons grabbed Kazuki by surprise and started dragging him down to the ground, 'HOTAKA!' Kazuki called out, reaching for his tanned companion who was just finishing off the demon he was ordered to kill.

'KAZUKI!' He ran to his friend's aid, slashing any demon in his way. Hotaka in the mirror started pulling Kazuki but got slashed in the back by a tall ugly ogre. Kazuki screamed as his childhood friend fell to the ground, his blood oozing around Kazuki's feet before his own throat was slit and he too was dead.

Inuyasha hit the mirror with his fists, screaming their names, tears rushing down his face.

A deep evil chuckle echoed in his mind.

"STOP IT!" He screamed at Kyoufu Oni.

Kyoufu Oni did not stop, he laughed until Inuyasha was cowering into the ground, his hands clasping his ears.

"Now..." He chuckled darkly, "it is time to finish you off since you have no hope left."

Inuyasha glanced up to see all six eyes glowing evilly down at him, but he couldn't move. He had given into his despair.

"EEAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" An ear piercing sound screeched across the land as Kyoufu Oni fell to the ground.

Inuyasha hadn't noticed it before but the rest of the landscape had gone dark, like only in a dream. The world lit up again and he could see his surroundings. The mirror was gone and two small figures were in front of him. When his eyes adjusted he could see that it was Kazuki and Hotaka.

"Leave my father ALONE!" Kazuki yelled.

"YEAH!" Hotaka agreed.

Kyoufu Oni was on the ground, the heads on either side were cut off and he was groaning and squirming, trying to get to his feet.

Inuyasha realised then that it was all an illusion.

Seeing Amaya and the others killed by demons, was all made up, all of it.

He almost grabbed the two boys and hugged them, even Hotaka, but stopped himself when he realised that they were now in real danger.

"Get behind me!" He grabbed their shoulders and dragged them behind him.

The demon attempted to chuckle darkly but the whimpers of his pain still escaped his dragon like jaws.

"I will...De-stro-y Y-you!" He gasped through agony.

"No you won't!" Inuyasha yelled. "After you pulled THAT stunt on me I will KILL YOU!"

Inuyasha went to lash out at Kyoufu Oni when the demon raised his right paw again saying "fear."

Kazuki screamed, his hands clasping his ears and fell to the ground. Inuyasha turned back, "Kazuki are you alright?" But his son couldn't hear him.

"Mummy, MUMMY!" He screamed, "No NO! This c-can't be ha-p-pening!"

Hotaka ran to his friend and shook him, he tried yelling Kazuki's name into his ear but nothing worked.

He was in a trance.

"WHAT did you do to MY SON you PIG!?" Inuyasha turned towards the demon.

Kyoufu Oni struggled to his feet, the chuckle that escaped his jaws was a wheezing one but still dark and powerful enough to strike fear into the heart of a monster.

"You have failed as a father."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Inuyashas fury was at its edge. NOONE calls him a bad father, EVER!

"Your fears, shall be MINE!" He twisted his right paw and all Inuyasha could see were those dark images again. Amaya being slaughtered, Kazuki and Hotaka being slain, it was all an illusion made up by the demon.

Inuyasha blocked out the dark gruesome images as best as he could and yelled at the beast "WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS?"

Kyoufu Oni gasped and thought to himself "No one has ever gotten out of any of my trances, not ever!"

"You better let go of my kid or else you'll PAY!" Without even being able to see anything Inuyasha then slashed his claws in the direction he was facing. The attack hit Kyoufu Oni directly in the face, and he screeched.

Inuyasha could then see again, he looked up as the Demon threw his head back and roared. "You won't get away with that you BRAT!" He lashed forward ready to kill Inuyasha.

"Bring it ON!" Inuyasha positioned himself for a fight but then he noticed that Kyoufu Oni's remaining head looked strange and then the next minute he found it limp at his feet. He looked up and saw that the demon's body was now completely headless and standing on top of the headless body was none other than Hotaka.

He stood with his arms crossed, tall and proud, smirking smugly to himself. "YEAH! That's what you get for messing with my best friend!" He leaned forward sticking out his tongue hastily toward the green limp head resting on Inuyashas feet.

Inuyasha, for the first time, was actually proud of Hotaka. He smiled at Koga's son with thumbs up.

Kazuki came out of the trance and rushed to his dad crying, telling him how he had seen his mother and father be killed before his eyes.

Inuyasha glanced at the demon one last time before turning away and leading the boy's home, he then realised something about the demons name. Kyoufu Oni actually meant "Fear Demon."

...

So his greatest fear was to lose his kids to demons, and he saw Kazuki as his reflection because he feared that his son would turn out like him. That he would be doomed to fight demons his whole life and to be killed by them.

But why was Hotaka in the mirror? Inuyasha thought he couldn't give a rat's ass about Koga's son. Did this mean he his greatest fear was to lose Hotaka too?

He took a look at the copper-brown haired boy and realised that he didn't hate him at all. Inuyasha thought about the memory of Hotaka standing on Kyoufu Oni after he killed the demon.

Inuyasha thought about it and realised that deep down he had always seen Hotaka as a second son.

They walked for a while longer but when they were close to the cottage Kazuki stopped.

"What is it son?" Inuyasha looked at Kazuki who lightly sniffed the air.

"Daddy, there's that funny scent again."


End file.
